Hi,

I would like to get an opinion on using php vs perl for backend
database related work. This is basically a script for nightly batch jobs
which reads from different databases and write to databases.
So far I have used perl/DBI for this.

I am looking into the possibility of using php for the same, if it
provides any significant benefit in code maintenance etc.

TIA.

If you have working code, use that.

For a brand new database project, I would personally consider Java or
PHP5 because IMHO, OO is handled in a more natural way.

On Mar 2, 1:27 pm, dcrunch...@aim.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I would like to get an opinion on using php vs perl for backend
> database related work. This is basically a script for nightly batch jobs
> which reads from different databases and write to databases.
> So far I have used perl/DBI for this.
>
> I am looking into the possibility of using php for the same, if it
> provides any significant benefit in code maintenance etc.
>
> TIA.

dcruncher4@aim.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I would like to get an opinion on using php vs perl for backend
> database related work. This is basically a script for nightly batch jobs
> which reads from different databases and write to databases.
> So far I have used perl/DBI for this.
>
> I am looking into the possibility of using php for the same, if it
> provides any significant benefit in code maintenance etc.
>
> TIA.
>
>

Both are just languages. Neither one has any particular advantage in
maintenance, etc. It much more depends on the programmers who write the
code, how well the code is written and commented, the skills of the
people maintaining the code, and a bunch of other things.

And if it's working now, I see no reason to invest a bunch of time and
money rewriting it. Don't fix what isn't broke.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
==================

Oh no. This is not to rewrite existing code. I want to check
whether it is worth investing on php for any new code. of course
my boss will ask me to justify why I would want php when perl
has been doing the job fine so far. I can't tell that the only
valid reason is that I want to learn php and add it in my resume (haha).

So I need some real reasons as to why php is superior to perl.
I got one so far: It has a more natural support for OO, which I agree.

thanks.

In article <o8ednQljEdyhklbanZ2dnUVZ_rvinZ2d@comcast.com>, Jerry Stuckle says...
>Both are just languages. Neither one has any particular advantage in
>maintenance, etc. It much more depends on the programmers who write the
>code, how well the code is written and commented, the skills of the
>people maintaining the code, and a bunch of other things.
>
>And if it's working now, I see no reason to invest a bunch of time and
>money rewriting it. Don't fix what isn't broke.
>

dcruncher4@aim.com wrote:
> Oh no. This is not to rewrite existing code. I want to check
> whether it is worth investing on php for any new code. of course
> my boss will ask me to justify why I would want php when perl
> has been doing the job fine so far. I can't tell that the only
> valid reason is that I want to learn php and add it in my resume (haha).
>
> So I need some real reasons as to why php is superior to perl.
> I got one so far: It has a more natural support for OO, which I agree.
>
> thanks.
>
> In article <o8ednQljEdyhklbanZ2dnUVZ_rvinZ2d@comcast.com>, Jerry Stuckle says...
>> Both are just languages. Neither one has any particular advantage in
>> maintenance, etc. It much more depends on the programmers who write the
>> code, how well the code is written and commented, the skills of the
>> people maintaining the code, and a bunch of other things.
>>
>> And if it's working now, I see no reason to invest a bunch of time and
>> money rewriting it. Don't fix what isn't broke.
>>
>
>

True, but if everything else is in Perl, I would agree with your boss.
Having something in two different languages means you need twice the
skill set to maintain it.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
==================

dcruncher4 wrote:

> So I need some real reasons as to why php is superior to perl. I got one
> so far: It has a more natural support for OO, which I agree.

PHP's version of the OO paradigm is a lot more familiar to people who come
from Java backgrounds, because it has familiar ideas like classes and
objects, with methods and properties, but Perl's OO is more flexible. Perl
can do, for instance, multiple inheritance, whereas PHP and Java cannot.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.17.14-mm-desktop-9mdvsmp, up 34 days, 17:01.]

Bottled Water
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2008/02/18/bottled-water/

On Mar 3, 11:55 am, dcrunch...@aim.com wrote:
> So I need some real reasons as to why php is superior to perl.
> I got one so far: It has a more natural support for OO, which I agree.

So? OO is simply another way of organizing code. In many cases, OO
just gets in the way, as when you are dealing with a simply procedural
script. I write a lot of scripts for databases, in many cases taking
data from one database, manipulating it in some way, and writing it to
another database. It's simpler to do this with a script written in an
imperative style than one written in an object oriented style.

Languages are simply tools. When you use a tool, you use one most
suitable for the task at hand. PHP might be a better tool for your job
than Perl, but it won't be a better tool because it has more natural
support for OO development.

CC